China Implements ‘Social Distancing’ Hats for Elementary Students

Primary schools in eastern China are making students wear physical distancing hats in the classroom inspired by a style worn by ancient Chinese government officials, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on Monday.

The hats are part of an effort to teach young children how to maintain a distance from one another amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

In Hangzhou, students returned to a primary school on Monday, SCMP reports, citing Chinese state media. The pupils were encouraged to create and wear their own handmade physical distancing hats, which have long extensions on either side, like wings, to keep them at least three feet apart from each other, per physical distancing guidelines. Global health authorities have encouraged people to maintain a distance from others to curb transmission of the coronavirus, which reportedly can spread through the air via moisture droplets when coughing or sneezing.

According to Chinese state media, the students’ hats were inspired by an ancient design during the Song Dynasty, which ruled China between 960 and 1279 AD. Photos of the Hangzhou pupils show them wearing both the special hats and face masks, in line with a recent Ministry of Education requirement for students to wear protective face coverings in the classroom.

According to the SCMP, “the first Song Emperor ordered his ministers to wear hats with two long wings on the sides so that they could not gossip” in court assemblies without being overheard, according to one legend. Tsui added that “the Song emperors … were also depicted to have worn this kind of headwear with wing-like flaps.”

An ancient imperial city, Hangzhou was the capital of the Song Dynasty from 1127. Venetian merchant Marco Polo visited Hangzhou in the late 13^th century as it was a center of commerce. The Italian explorer stopped there as he traveled through Asia along the ancient Silk Road, a network of trade routes linking East to West.